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Partnering with Educational Media

Educational Media opens the doors for several types of partnerships. As a group, it is important to think about your objectives to determine what are the right types of partners and how to have those partnerships come to life.

The easiest place to partner for a musical group is of course through shows. When scheduling shows, it is important to think about what you are getting out of the performance, ala revenue, exposure, good will, practice time for bigger shows. Revenue can show up in actual contract dollars or in free advertising that the host may do for you. Exposure is a great one to think about - because different audiences may spread word-of-mouth in very different circles. So if you do a outdoor event related to sports vs. an indoor school event, the people listening could overlap in your target audience or complement each other really well. Practice time, let's face it - practice makes perfect. Most times you do a show for lots of reasons and practice/rehearsal for bigger shows is a great way to try out new material and see how the audience reacts. It is relatively safe and helps you work out kinks.

Playing for charity and good will is a great thing to do. There are lots of benefits for both the group and the charity. Hitting back on audience and cross marketing - it is likely that the charity members are a different audience that one typically plays for at a show. So exposure is great - the group will also bring a new membership base to the charity, so it creates a potential group that may donate hours, money or skills to the charity once you market the partnership. It is also great for morale and it is good to show that you as a group care and give back. Sometimes this may mean you play for less revenue, which again can show up in others ways as far as value (ala marketing by the charity, new audience, etc.).

Partners also can provide a great opportunity for cross marketing/promotions. Chances are your partners align with your brand and identity. As an educational group that plays kid's music, you hopefully are not teaming up with a company that does not enhance or support your reputation. Connecting the marketing "dots" between partners is also a great way to add value to your network of partners, it also can deliver results in a very powerful way. Partners that otherwise would not have found each other - may be able to connect because of the one thing they have in common - a group that provides educational media.

In closing, it is critical to have a partnership strategy on paper and to have thought through it before diving in and going after just anyone. Partners can make the journey a lot easier or frankly tougher depending on how easy they are to work with, how helpful they are in supporting your vision as a group too.
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